Friday, January 23, 2009

Daddy vs Papi

Back when Kaylani was born, I made a point of ensuring that everyone knew what Kaylani's name was, how it come about, and importantly, how it was pronounced. And now that we're approaching the 12 week mark, it's come to my attention that I probably only call her Kaylani 10% of the time. The other 90% of the time are a mix of various alterations including (but not limited to) Kaylancita, Mamor, Mamorcita, Baby Girl, Little Girl, Munchkin, Little Munchkin, Poopymonster, Poopy Queen, and a million others.

I'm very curious to know if she'll even know what her name is when she gets older. At some point, I'm going to have to start calling her Kaylani all the time so she recognizes it. Otherwise, she may grow up responding to Poopymonster, which probably isn't the best nickname to take through life. The other part of this is I haven't exactly established what my name is yet. Well, not officially at least.

Daddy seems to make the most sense. Besides the fact that it would lend a bit of credibility to "The Daddy Diaries", it's also closest to what I'm used to. After all, I grew up calling my Dad, Dad. Daddy is just a cuter way of saying it, and maybe I actually used to call my Dad, Daddy, but I'm not really sure. I'll check with my Mom on that one. So besides Daddy, the other option on the table is Papi, which of course is the Spanish version of Daddy, and what Mommy is used to.

Mommy actually wants to go by Mami. For those of you who've read a majority of my posts, you may have noticed a few instances where I actually use Mami instead of Mommy, but it's rare because I forget. I can't even remember to use Mami in a post, let alone remember to use Papi in front of Kaylani. Plus, if I do decide to go by Papi, do I have to change the name of the blog to "The Papi Diaries?" That doesn't sound right, so it'd have to be something like "The Papi Posts," which just doesn't flow as well as "The Daddy Diaries." One point for Daddy.

As far as what's easier for Kaylani, Papi sure seems like it's easier to say then Daddy. Okay, I guess the ending "e" sound is the same, but don't you think "pah" is easier than "dah?" I feel like the "puh" sound of the "p" will come first, and since Mami and I are fighting over whose name she'll say first, we've got to make it as easy as possible. One point for Papi.

Another factor to take into consideration is the difference factor. If we're out on the playground, or in public somewhere, and I hear someone say "Daddy," I'll have to look to make sure it's not Kaylani who's calling me. But if Kaylani calls me Papi, then public confusion may not be an issue (unless we're in Puerto Rico or Florida). That's two for Papi.

But I have to go back to the part where Daddy just comes naturally to me. More than 50% of the time, when I (or even Mami) are talking to Kaylani, we refer to me as Daddy because that's just what comes out first. In certain conversations, I'll go back and forth between Papi and Daddy, but that's gotta stop. So since Daddy comes out the majority of the time, chalk one up for Daddy.

We're tied at 2 points each and I'm out of points to make in either favor. It looks like no decision is going to be made tonight unfortunately, so I guess I'll have split personalities as far as Poopymonster is concerned for at least one more day. But if I don't figure this out soon, Mami is going to have a clear advantage in the name game, because no matter what, Mommy and Mami both sound the exact same to Kaylani. D'oh...or P'oh!

Oh, and here are pictures from the last two days including a few pictures with Uncle Tommy that we just took. Uncle Tommy and Auntie Gretchen are in town this weekend, so come back on Sunday to see pictures from their visit. Until tomorrow, Daddy/Papi out!

2 comments:

Alan
said...

Don't worry, you'll start using Kaylani's real name alot more when she's old enough for you to keep telling her not to do something. Of course there was a point there when I used to wonder if Nolan would think his name was No or NolanNo.